


Snakes In A Village

by Rosse



Series: The Giant AU / Rewrite [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, i don't know where i'm going with this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-23
Updated: 2015-11-16
Packaged: 2018-01-13 10:15:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 12,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1222489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosse/pseuds/Rosse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"He briefly entertains the thought that at least it wasn’t Tsunade who ended up slipping on the Hokage robes. The village would have been flattened months ago."</p><p>AU. What if Orochimaru had never left Konoha? (NOTE: Rewrite is Snakebite & Black, the next part of "The Giant AU / Rewrite" series.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Infrastructure Budgets & Jinchuurikis

“IDIOT!”

To Orochimaru’s credit, he manages to refrain from banging his head off the table and settles for an eyeroll instead. That Jiraiya could be heard through his Filtering Jutsu and all the way in the south end of Konoha doesn’t surprise him. It does irritate him, however, from a purely practical standpoint - everyone in the village knows by now that the bellow of idiot means that Naruto’s gone flying into a building.

They’d just finished repairing the last one.

He leaves a tip for the waiter and slithers out, slick hand seals allowing him to bounce from one side of town to the other much quicker than walking would. Sure, the Kyuubi would heal up Naruto fast enough, but the damage to the buildings would need to be sorted out as soon as possible.

(... And he supposed he might need to drop Jiraiya’s brat off at the hospital. If the damage was bad enough.)

“What did you do this time?” He’s strong enough to haul a twelve year old out of the rubble of an abandoned bookstore, fingers curled into Naruto’s jacket and lifting him off the ground. He looks pretty beaten - not so much as the building, but beaten nonetheless. With its ancient brick and dilapidated, dusty windows, the bookstore had already been put on the shortlist for repairs to the village. Well, it’s taken a shortcut to the top of the list, now. Naruto protests loudly, says he didn’t do anything and that Ero-sennin (Orochimaru smirks. The nickname fits) needs to train him properly.

“What are you waiting for, start repairing!” The order’s barked at a few chuunin hidden in the shadows gaping at the scene, Naruto hanging all too limply - and quietly - in Orochimaru’s hand. His eyes narrow.

“Hospital. Now.” Naruto’s hands, halfway to sealing his way out of Orochimaru’s grasp with a clever use of Kage Bunshin (of course), still as a snake tightens around his wrists. Dammit. He thought the old snake wouldn’t notice if he was sneaky enough. What did he need to go to the hospital for? He’d always been a quick healer!

(Believe it.)

The sounds of the chuunin trying to clear debris grumbles like their complaints through the alleyway and everyone gets out of Orochimaru’s way as he drags Naruto - with his protesting limbs and shouts of pain - all the way to the hospital.

The clouds roll overhead and he glances up. Great. Hadn’t the sun been shining just an hour ago?

***

He leaves Naruto with one of the more sensible healers in the hospital (a Hyuuga branch member that merely inclines his head and sweeps away the protesting Jinchuuriki) and slips over to the Hokage’s office, rain spitting lightly across the village as Orochimaru looks over the building. Another hole through the window. More repair bills. Great.

He briefly entertains the thought that at least it wasn’t Tsunade who ended up slipping on the Hokage robes. The village would have been flattened months ago. Jiraiya’s punches always lacked that little bit of chakra control that Tsunade’s had. They didn’t reach quite as far, or shatter quite as many bones.

( _'I wonder what she’s up to?’_ his mind drifts idly, thoughts travelling to distant lands and forgotten nights and all the lost money.

Maybe he’s glad she isn’t digging into his wallet as well.)

“Leave.” The junior advisors listen to him and make themselves scarce with a barely concealed shudder of disgust. Smart people, those two. But not too smart. They know enough to make good decisions, but not to question him. They remember to retain a healthy amount of fear of him that pleases Orochimaru; he has no time to deal with other people’s opinions right now.

(He knows those two wouldn’t be able to decode Jiraiya the same way he can. It’s something that can only come from teamwork like theirs.

No other shinobi team has it.)

“Jiraiya. We don’t have the budget for your frustrations.” The first couple of times Orochimaru had let slide; he had understood why Naruto would inspire that reaction (thankfully for Naruto, Orochimaru doesn’t have to see him so often, otherwise he’d be snake food. He doesn’t have the patience for anyone that energetic any more). However, with Jiraiya’s tutelage of the boy came the increase in incidents and the budget for Infrastructure quickly depleted to the pennies. If he continues using Naruto like his personal punching bag, they’d have to dip into Development’s pot and that would get awfully messy.

(Orochimaru hates the village’s economists and he’d rather avoid speaking to them. They have dead eyes and nothing but Ryou on their minds.)

“I know, Orochi.” Orochimaru’s jaw tightens at the nickname, but he lets it slide. He lets too much slide, now that he thinks about it. “I’m trying to get through to him. He’s just so damn stubborn.” It brings a smile to Orochimaru’s face to hear those words. It’s exactly what he needs to seal his victory in their little discussion. Jiraiya just needs to be reminded of the right things.

“He’s exactly like you were, you know?” He notices Jiraiya’s eye twitch, supresses a smirk. He knows it’s the truth, even Jiraiya isn’t that stupid, but it needs to be restated just bluntly enough that Jiraiya doesn’t argue or hate the thought. It isn’t exactly hard to know what buttons to press to make Jiraiya reconsider his approaches. He knows everything Orochimaru’s telling him, and that’s why he needs Orochimaru as his advisor. Without him, he’d never listen to himself. “Perhaps it would be for the best if you took him out of the village for a while. I seem to recall it matured you greatly.”

Not Tsunade, however.

“You know I can’t do that. The village needs a leader and all of that...” ‘bullshit,’ Orochimaru’s mind fills in. He knew Jiraiya would never really enjoy this position, but that his teammate would trust in him and keep him as an advisor. No matter what Jiraiya said about being Hokage as a child, it wouldn’t last as an adult when he realised that there’s more to being Hokage than simply leading the village.

There’s paperwork. Lots of paperwork. No one likes paperwork, not even Orochimaru, but he can tolerate it. Unlike the man sitting in the Hokage’s chair. Which is why Orochimaru spends far too much time telling Jiraiya to just get it out of the way. (Once or twice he’s told Jiraiya that if he gets the pile sent out, he’d stand guard and ensure the man gets to do all the “research” he wants at the baths.

It’s one of his few eternal shames.

All of those shames involve Jiraiya, he realises. Most involve Tsunade as well.)

“I can take over for a while.”

“No.”

“Very well. Might I suggest that you train him in the woods from now on?” Orochimaru disappears in a cloud of smoke and Jiraiya leans his chin against his hands.


	2. Disciples & War Orphans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "If he didn’t know better, he’d think he was looking at the ghost of his childhood right there."
> 
> Naruto gets some training, Sasuke is impatient, and Orochimaru receives some interesting news. Jiraiya, on the other hand, needs a holiday.

Naruto returns to full health by the evening, Jiraiya pulling him back from blazing all over the village in a fit of restlessness by promising late night training outside of the Hokage’s quarters. In the training fields for now, but it’s enough to get the boy rambling about how they’re finally going to do something more useful than Jiraiya’s paperwork and what awesome techniques he’ll master.

The bravado makes Jiraiya roll his eyes and privately curse Orochimaru for being so utterly correct. If he didn’t know better, he’d think he was looking at the ghost of his childhood right there.

Naruto may be Minato’s kid - it’s obvious from the mop of unruly blond hair and the way he wants to protect this village and the people so damn badly (even if he keeps saying it’s only so they’ll acknowledge him) - but his attitude, his hyperactivity and unwillingness to get serious is so much like a younger Jiraiya that it sometimes hurts to watch him.

(He knows exactly how badly things will go. After all, he’d made all the same mistakes.)

When Naruto’s stood, trying to balance himself on top of a thin metal pole with only chakra, Jiraiya lets the complaints about how boring and easy this is wash over him. Yeah, he remembers saying the same thing, but it’s necessary. (Still. It is boring as anything.) He looks up at Naruto, who’s actually managed to move to one foot. Good. Soon they’d be able to get somewhere.

Maybe if he threw the kid from the Hokage monument he’d finally tap into the Kyuubi’s chakra. But for that day to come, Jiraiya would have to be sure that Naruto wouldn’t also destroy the village.

So he yells at Naruto to shut up and keep concentrating, and goes back to writing.

... This’ll never be good enough, he grimaces, and tears out a sheet of paper from his book, setting it alight with a Katon. He needs a holiday.

***

At the borders of Konoha, Sasuke growls and throws kunai at a flock of birds, hitting each with ease. The small, moving targets aren’t exactly the pinnacle of training he wants, but Kakashi’s away on a mission and Sasuke’s bored of waiting. So he takes things into his own hands and spends his time in libraries or outside, aiming and refining his Sharingan’s abilities. Sakura hangs around the library as well, inviting him out to practice their developing skills in lieu of anyone to actually teach them and Naruto cooped up in Godaime Hokage’s office, unable to work with them. She, on the other hand, is as bored as he is and keeps burying her head in books about genjutsu and warping little realities around them while they study and fight.

He doesn’t mention that he’s impressed. Kakashi-sensei had the right idea in poking her towards genjutsu; she takes to it like a duck to water and he doesn’t mind turning off the instinct to use the Sharingan and dispel her little tricks during study time. (Everything said, he finds the things she does almost calming. If she keeps this up, she could be a respectable shinobi like Team 8‘s instructor.)

He kills another bird and looks back at Konoha’s gates.

He needs a trainer. Kakashi’s not reliable enough; ever since Sandaime died, Jiraiya’s been dragging every jonin they can spare onto information gathering missions and team 7 haven’t seen their sensei in days. Possibly weeks if he doesn’t return by tomorrow. From what Sakura tells him, it’s the same for all the other genin teams - everyone’s stuck to their own teams, trying to train themselves, but Sakura looks grim and doubtful when she mentions that. He doesn’t believe that self-teaching is going to get them much further, either. Sasuke doesn’t know exactly what’s going on, but it’s serious - everyone can sense the tension in the air. Since the attack on Konoha and Sandaime’s death, all the shinobi have been on edge. It isn’t over yet, whatever it was, and that’s the only reason Sasuke hasn’t blown up in fire at their sensei, despite the overwhelming rage that he’s being held back in this village.

... He needs someone who’s still in the village. That’s the answer. Someone who has no reason to be leaving.

***

Orochimaru lounges on Minato’s head, legs folded and arms behind his head, watching clouds drift into the setting sun. This village bores him to death, sometimes. (Most of the time, really. Nothing exciting has really happened since the old man died and he wasn’t even here for that, dragged out on a mission by Jiraiya.) Jiraiya keeps him within the borders because he’s an advisor - the senior advisor at that - and adds that Orochimaru is a valuable source of defence to the village, that he needs to be present as much as possible in case of attack. He mentions how they weren’t there when Sandaime died and how they might have prevented it.

(Might.)

It’s a poor argument, but Orochimaru goes along with it. Just like he goes along with the insinuation that he’s too good to waste his time teaching teams of genin.

That restriction he enjoys a little more. He’d never enjoyed teaching anyway. For all the complaints he levels at Jiraiya for losing his patience, Orochimaru knows he would have even less. The only student he’d ever tolerated had been Anko. She’d been bright, ambitious - quick to learn and easy to mould into a ruthless killer.

It pays well to have her firmly in his corner. Anko passes information from outside the borders onto him, tells him of potential threats, as well as potential allies.

She tells him about a girl who ran and avoided the massacre of her village, crying as she hid under rubble. She tells him that girl - Karin, was it? Anko doesn’t remember - mentioned being able to sense that something was coming, but no one believed her. She dropped her off at the nearest in-tact village, but asks what they should do. Sensors like that didn’t come along every day.

Orochimaru orders her to find the girl and bring her back to Konoha. He’d speak with Jiraiya about it, the man couldn’t possibly say no to such an ability. With her village razed, it wasn’t like anyone would be looking for her anyway. Orphans were always such a sad thing, such a part of wartime and a world with overpowered fighters like them that he lacks the ability to imagine a world without.

(People shouldn’t die. But they always will. That’s the fundamental weakness of humanity.)

Anko nods and whirls away.

Orochimaru sits up, looks over the village and narrows his eyes.

Something’s coming.


	3. Trade Agreements & Sparring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "“Sasuke. Don’t expect miracles. We’re not in a position to create them. No doubt the Hokage will be sending me back out as soon as I’m rested,” Kakashi explains, sitting cross-legged on the damp grass, his usual casual face replaced by something more serious and wizened. Something older, that wore at him like the sea against stone and reminds Sasuke that there’s more to his teacher than what Team 7 sees."
> 
> Kakashi returns, Sasuke is out for vengeance. Meanwhile, Jiraiya deals with the boring parts of getting your face on Hokage mountain.

Jiraiya pinches the bridge of his nose at Orochimaru’s summary of Anko’s mission. Taking in random orphans doesn’t fall under his usual requests, so Jiraiya has to wonder what exactly Orochimaru’s only surviving student saw. Would it really be so useful that even Orochimaru wants to sink his teeth into it? He remembers Orochimaru’s recommendation that they kill Nagato, Yahiko and Konan, because they had nothing to live for, no joy that would be brought to them by being left in Amegakure. They’d die anyway, he’d argued.

(Orochimaru had been the first one to tut in disappointment when Jiraiya tells his team that Nagato was the heir to the Rinnegan. _Perhaps... we’ll have to investigate war orphans more carefully._ The words ring in Jiraiya’s head faintly, whispered in that soft tone Orochimaru uses whenever he discovers a new source of information. Jiraiya can almost see the way his teammate’s fingers thread together, elbows propped on the table at their favourite restaurant and how his eyes look over his fingers knife-sharp and aflame.

Planning.)

“Fine. We need more sensors, after all.” Orochimaru nods, disappears with one shift of his fingers and Jiraiya leans back in his chair, staring at the ceiling blankly. The tiles were once a bright white, he heard. They’ve been yellowed as long as Jiraiya’s been coming here. He’d have to ask for money to redecorate in here; the years are showing in the worn edges of his desk and the dust that just won’t disappear from the shelves no matter how hard he dusts them.

There’s a trade agreement lying on his desk; 80 pages of details on working with Getsugakure and getting discount rates on their materials. It’s dull, dry and utterly needed. Jiraiya’s eyes glaze over as he tries to read the conditions of trade and his mind drifts.

He wishes he could leave the village. Orochimaru’s beginning to get bored; he can see it. And a bored Orochimaru is a dangerous Orochimaru. (A bored Orochimaru once decided to try and create a jutsu that turned the streams around Konoha into acid. He succeeded and ten genin had to be rushed to the hospital.) Jiraiya himself is no better. (Jiraiya once glued all the scrolls at the mission desk together and on the floor with chakra. He was 25 years old and considered ‘elite’. The chuunin assigned to the desk had howled at him for the next three weeks.) Being confined to paperwork and Konoha drains his inspiration, only allows him so much to draw from. Sure, there’s Kage summits, but none have happened in his short tenure here. And the council frowned upon his initial suggestion that he leaves a Kage Bunshin here while he does his research.

Old bats.

Maybe it’s time to find out how Tsunade’s doing.

***

“Hokage-sama, I come with news.” The messagers of Takigakure always do this strange little bow that makes Jiraiya shift uncomfortably in his chair. There’s a formality to them that Konoha doesn’t really go with. Behind him, his Junior Advisors stand still. “Our leader died yesterday.” Jiraiya’s eyes narrow and he straightens himself in his chair. The ninja in front of him goes wide-eyed with the feeling of tension that comes out of the Hokage and his advisors. “Natural circumstances! You know of her age.”

Jiraiya relaxes.

“Have you selected a new leader?” He asks, fingers drumming against the desk. (There’s practically imprints worn in from all his predecessors. Finger drumming must be a Hokage staple.) The ninja nods.

“She’s had one in place for a while: Takeyuki Shingen. A barrier user.” Defence is a great offence, according to Takigakure’s old motto.

“Alright. When he’s set up, send a messenger bird. We’ll meet you then.”

The messenger nods at the advisor and whirls away. Jiraiya glances over the scroll the messenger-nin brought with him; the official notice of death and confirmation of Shingen‘s promotion. “Tell Orochi. He’d kill me if he’s not kept up to date,” he comments wryly and the advisors disappear as well.

***

Sasuke blasts a Katon at Kakashi, freshly returned and slightly off his game with exhaustion. It’s soon followed up by Chidori, shrieking birds in his ears as he dashes through the cloud of smoke and towards his sensei.

There’s a shudder in the earth and Sasuke barely escapes the hand shooting out of the ground to pull him down, flipping in mid-air to drill the earth with lightning. It should be enough...

He kneels on the grass, knuckles tense against the greenery and waits.

“Not bad... You’ve been training while I’ve been gone, huh?” Kakashi appears in front of him, tired but otherwise uninjured, his hitae-ate still down. He couldn’t even stress him into using the Sharingan... Sasuke’s jaw tightens, that Konoha symbol on his sensei’s protector mocking him.

_‘You’re not strong enough yet, Sasuke.’_

“Sasuke. Don’t expect miracles. We’re not in a position to create them. No doubt the Hokage will be sending me back out as soon as I’m rested,” Kakashi explains, sitting cross-legged on the damp grass, his usual casual face replaced by something more serious and wizened. Something older, that wore at him like the sea against stone and reminds Sasuke that there’s more to his teacher than what Team 7 sees.

“I know. But I have to get stronger...!” His fist is halted by the earth and his teeth grind, Sharingan whirling madly. He hates the Sharingan, yet loves it all at the same time. He sees his family in the mirrors around his home and then watches himself morph into Itachi.

And the nightmares start again.

He hates the Sharingan, but he can’t stop it flaring within him whenever he thinks of Itachi. Whenever he thinks how he needs to avenge his clan, to protect their memories from the madness of his brother.

“Well, I could see who’s still around...”

***

Naruto finally gets his hands on a jutsu, courtesy of Jiraiya, and spends ten minutes celebrating by running in the streets and whooping.

When every man in the vicinity starts drooling, he realises he forgot to dispel his Sexy Jutsu and sheepishly returns to himself.

... Mission Success! Now all he has to do is learn it--

“GET BACK HERE!”

Aw crap. The old pervert’s conscious again.


	4. Cookery & Requests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It’s a little known fact that Naruto is a genius cook, capable of making brilliant meals in a few minutes."
> 
> Naruto trains, Jiraiya is a buttmonkey. Team 7 hang out and Sakura asks an important question.

Naruto’s already trying to blast destruction into the forests of Konoha when Jiraiya catches up, ready to reclaim the scroll and smack the brat over the head. Great. He’s shaking the earth until the roots of the trees are lifted out - no, not lifted, torn. He tears them out of the earth with the sheer magnitude of the jutsu and determination.

Jiraiya stands back and watches, grabs the scroll from the ground and keeps his eyes on the way Naruto works. It isn’t right, or anything close to the Doton listed in the scroll, but it’s powerful. It wrecks the surrounding area and Jiraiya wonders about the applications of this in battle. Could it disrupt sticking chakra? Maybe.

“Oi, Naruto!” The way Naruto’s face freezes in horror and his attack promptly stops is, at the least, amusing. At least the idiot still recollects that his trainer is the most powerful person in the village, and that he could be in for a world of trouble with that little prank and theft.

He contemplates Naruto’s expression, wondering if maybe he has been too harsh on the boy, too cautious with his power in the village. “Not bad... Not what’s written here, but not bad.”

Naruto grins so widely that Jiraiya hops over and ruffles his hair.

***

“He stole it? You’re the head of the village and a twelve year old bested you?” The laughter in Orochimaru’s voice is palpable as they toast their drinks in the quiet bar near the Hokage’s quarters. Jiraiya just glowers and grumbles at his friend’s sharpened smirk, drowning his humiliation in alcohol. He knew letting Orochimaru in on this would end badly, but Orochimaru can sniff out untold information at 100 paces and has the lack of morals to dig it out at any cost.

(He blames Tsunade for making their friend such a gossip; it had to be her influence.)

“He did the same thing to Sarutobi-sensei,” is his only defence and it just makes things worse. It just makes Orochimaru more amused. Jiraiya sinks in his seat, petulantly continuing to narrow his eyes at his friend.

“Yes, you always did take after him.” That insufferable smirk won’t go away. Like Tsunade sticking her tongue out, Orochimaru’s smirk goes back in Jiraiya’s mind as far as his childhood. Memories of Orochimaru flicking his forehead because Tsunade blabbed how it irritated him beyond anything else. Ones of Tsunade snickering in the background while Orochimaru boasted his jutsu right in Jiraiya’s face.

... He can’t really be mad, though. Taking after Sandaime is more of a compliment than it is an insult, and Orochimaru knows that. Jiraiya can see it in his eyes and a smile twitches at his lips, threatening to destroy his glower.

“At least one of us did,” Jiraiya quips, letting the smile break through as a waiter takes the empty glass next to him to be refilled. Orochimaru’s brow quirks as if he’s not sure whether that’s supposed to be an insult or not.

“A beer, please.” Orochimaru changes drinks and Jiraiya starts on another glass of wine. Their topics change, but they keep talking without more pause than to order another drink.

Three hours later, Jiraiya suggests a change of venue and it’s all fine until he stumbles out and decides that _Karaoke No Kata_ would be perfect. If he’s had to embarrass himself today, he doesn’t see why Orochimaru should get off scot free. Orochimaru hisses in a way that’s nearly a screech of horror and Jiraiya agrees that they should just head home before the night becomes the morning. (Not really. He carefully directs Orochimaru around to another bar, and gets them both twice as drunk.)

***

Naruto invites Sakura and Sasuke to his house. True to Kakashi’s word, he’d been driven out on another mission by Jiraiya and Team 7 were alone again. So he invites them over for a chat and dinner. It’s a little known fact that Naruto is a genius cook, capable of making brilliant meals in a few minutes.

(It’s a very well known fact that Naruto can boil water and make cup ramen. Suggestions to the contrary are nothing but boasting.)

But Sakura turns up with meals for all three of them and Naruto grins so hard and inhales the box of noodles she hands him with gratitude. She just rolls her eyes and hopes Sasuke enjoys his as much as Naruto clearly does. (She always prepares food when they meet up. Naruto’s idea of nutrition is on par with his patience -- non-existent -- and she’s not sure if Sasuke knows how to cook.)

“So, Kakashi-sensei’s off again, huh?” She asks while Sasuke picks at rice lazily and he only acknowledges her words with a grunt of affirmation while Naruto rolls around his apartment like he’s being held here against his will. (Stupid, hyper... stupid!)

“Man, Jiraiya’s working him way too hard,” Naruto grouches from the couch, lying on his stomach and kicking his legs. Sasuke nods slightly and Sakura’s eyes are filled with worry. It’s a topic that remains undiscussed between the three of them, though they’re all aware of the necessity of the search for whoever set the army upon the village, they’ve never said a word about it in conversation beyond complaints about the loss of Kakashi. 

“Oi, d’you guys wanna train with me and Jiraiya?”

***

Whenever he starts feeling sick, Orochimaru visits the memorial stone. The lists of names give him something to read that requires no brain power, and he relaxes, realising that he’s still alive. It’s only a small blip in the grander scheme of things, though he wonders if the health problems caused the three-day hangover after the night out with Jiraiya. (His mind quickly corrects him, reminding him just how much lighter his wallet was after that night. Even Tsunade would have a three-day hangover.)

He lingers on each name for the smallest of seconds; he knows most of them by now, but every so often one catches his eye and he stores it away in his memory for next time. He plays memory games with the names, seeing how far down the stone he can make it before missing one. It relaxes him, unwinds his tensed temples just enough that the headache subsides and he stands to leave.

... He’s not alone.

Orochimaru spins to find the presence he detects and he’s surprised by the bunshin standing before him. It’s not a common occurrence for Orochimaru - most people are incredibly predictable in his eyes. But he didn’t see this one coming.

Haruno Sakura. What did he know of her? Teammate to Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. Ordinary in every way: low amounts of chakra, civilian parents. Compared to her teammates, she’s not all that... thrilling. It’s unlikely she’ll ever be a powerhouse like the boys.

But she’s smart. He knows that. He knows that Kakashi has raved to Jiraiya about Sakura just as much as the boys because she can control her chakra like no one else in her generation. He’s heard the complaints as well, that Sakura’s too boy crazy, that she likes the idea of being a ninja more than the reality. Easily scared. But she has the potential to plan in ways the boys never will - both Naruto and Sasuke are too impulsive, too led by their emotions. Sakura’s can be squashed, Kakashi thinks.

She reminds Orochimaru of Tsunade. A less spoiled, more jittery Tsunade. But Tsunade nonetheless; her eyes spark that same sort of wary fire he remembers in Tsunade’s during their first mission outside of the village.

“So, would you train me?” The question hangs in the air and Orochimaru regards her through narrowed eyes. It’s a bunshin, but it shares Sakura’s behaviours. She manages not to flinch when he directs his glare to her, cold and with the slightest malevolence behind it.

It’s good enough.

“I suppose. But you’ll be aware that I don’t have much time to do so. I won’t tolerate messing around.”

She almost says something, but all that comes out is: “Okay. Thank you, Orochimaru-san!” He watches the bunshin disappear in smoke and raises an eyebrow.

Interesting.


	5. Kage Bunshin & Blood Tests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You sent me all through Kirigakure for that sensor brat!”
> 
> Jiraiya plans, Anko returns, Team 7 bemoan the teaching system of Konoha. Iruka gets a new charge.

He leaves a Kage Bunshin to take care of the paperwork for a couple of hours and heads over to Orochimaru’s apartment, having allowed his senior advisor a day off (most unusually, at Orochimaru’s request; normally, Jiraiya would have to push him to take a holiday of any kind). Shizune had answered that they were in Mist Country and that Jiraiya should come over. She could use the company.

(He isn’t sure if that refers to Tsunade or Shizune.)

“Hey.” It’s a strange sight when Orochimaru is doing target practice with kunai, tossing the blades into floating targets from a spot on his couch with his eyes closed. He doesn’t do it often; doesn’t need to either - Jiraiya’s seen his uncanny accuracy far too many times in the past already. But it’s far more welcome than seeing him poring over scrolls. Nothing good ever comes from the way Orochimaru researches. He’s always been like that; too ambitious for his own good.

He lets out a breath of relief when one whizzes past his head and hits a target over the door.

“Jiraiya. Close the door.” A soft click later and Orochimaru eventually opens his eyes and hisses at the sunlight filtering through his blinds, highlighting the dust that dances across the air and settles on the coffee table. Most people blink in surprise when they first come here - Orochimaru doesn’t seem like the type to be so modern in his decor. Jiraiya just shrugs and enjoys the minimalism, the way that only the most necessary items are on display - no photos cluttering shelves, sparse, carefully chosen books lining them instead. It’s not like Orochimaru to be anything less than practical.

(Jiraiya always wonders why his best friend is almost a vampire when he’s in the comforts of his own home, trapping himself in all this dark. Underground with only minimal natural light filtering in, thanks to the way the apartment block’s yard is built into the ground.)

“Want to get out of here for a weekend?” Jiraiya grins and flops down next to Orochimaru, all excitement and energy at the prospect. Five months since the old man died, and four since Jiraiya started leading the village is four months too long without travelling. He did miss the missions. There’ll always be a part of all of them that revels in the fresh air and freedom of leaving the village.

He envies Tsunade. ... Kind of.

“I thought we were bound by the restraints of Hokage and his senior advisor.” A smirk on Orochimaru’s face is, in this case, a good sign. It’s a sign that Orochimaru wants in on this getaway. A weekend out of the dark confines of Orochimaru’s basement apartment would probably do him the world of good. Some time away from a critical council and piles of unfinished paperwork would help Jiraiya unwind. (Treaties, ugh.) Perhaps Jiraiya would even find the inspiration that’s been evading him in Konoha.

“Not if we use Kage Bunshin.”

Orochimaru laughs.

***

Sakura punches Sasuke in the face during training and he hits the back of a tree. Naruto throws a kunai at him and he wonders what he’s done wrong. Sure, he’s outclassing both of them regularly, but he’s always been better than them. He insists they stop as the two close in on him, all frustration and wound up energy, because he could do without the trip to the hospital. They don’t look like they want to stop, but they do, and Sasuke leads them away from the trees.

“Oi. What’s wrong with you, Sakura-chan?” Naruto’s the first one to ask anything, loud as ever as the three collapse on the grass. Sakura pulls a kunai from her pouch and runs it against her fingers, splits the ground with light force behind it and a little chakra.

“Orochimaru postponed our first training session,” she grumbles and Sasuke looks up sharply. She’s training with Orochimaru...? Jealousy stirs for a moment, why had she been chosen instead of him? He couldn’t even imagine Jiraiya’s advisor seeking out a student, let alone Sakura, like Jiraiya had sought out Naruto. “I guess Jiraiya went with him?” Naruto nods, swears, and Sasuke’s mind is still on that sentence, whirring over all the things it could mean - no, she couldn’t have asked him; this is Sakura, she would surely chicken out of such a thing. His fingers press against the slowly forming bruise where Sakura punched him.

Their first training session...

“At least you get the weekend off. Ero-sennin’s clone wants me helping with paperwork!” Naruto flops back onto the grass with an angry growl and Sakura laughs and props her head up with her elbows in the grass, watching Naruto’s tantrum and slowly moving her eyes to Sasuke’s thoughtful face. What could be on his mind? He’s been quiet since the spar ended.

“Sakura. Do you think I could come to your training session?” Sasuke finally pipes up, voice quiet and question slow. Sakura nods with her eyes narrowed, slight worry in the way her hands tense.

“I guess. As long as Orochimaru’s okay with it.” She doesn’t relax; Sasuke doesn’t blame her. The prospect of asking Orochimaru for a favour terrifies most people with a brain. It’s why he can’t envision a world where Sakura went to Orochimaru; she lives in fear of the shinobi reality, and there’s no way she’d have the bravery.

The team lapse into silence. Sakura rolls onto her back and Naruto runs up a tree and starts trying to balance on the finest branch that will still support him. He’s getting better at that chakra control, Sasuke muses, watching him shift from feet to hands with a shout of triumph.

“Hey, why were you both attacking me anyway?”

Sakura bites her tongue and doesn’t mention that he reminds them both of Orochimaru.

***

Cleaning up the Hokage’s office before leaving isn’t a task befitting the senior advisor, so Orochimaru sets the junior advisors to it (and convinces them that it's about time this place looked like a village leader's office instead of a storage cupboard for dead plants) and sprawls out on a couch instead. A weekend away sounds excellent, apart from the catch of Tsunade and Jiraiya together. For all his little niggling sentimentalities about Team Hiruzen being reunited, Orochimaru’s mind had successfully reminded him of the terror of those two allowed to run free together.

(He’s well aware that Tsunade says the same about him and Jiraiya, and that Jiraiya says the same when he and Tsunade team up. It’s an endless cycle of merciless torment and embarrassing stories.)

“There you are! I’ve been waiting for hours!” The shout makes Orochimaru peel his arm from his eyes and look up. Always so loud, always so wound up and energetic. He wonders how his younger self ever dealt with the ball of energy storming into his personal space. He’s too old for this.

“For what, Anko-chan?” He sits up and she glares, flopping down on the couch next to him. If he wasn’t her sensei, she’d have sent her snakes on him. But he taught her that and his only response would be a derisive laugh.

“You forgot?!” She shrieks, a frustrated hiss of air slipping through her teeth. Anko had inherited more than his jutsu; after five years of his tutelage, she’d inherited a whole host of his mannerisms (most notably, the irritated ones). “You sent me all through Kirigakure for that sensor brat!” Ah. Right.

“... Of course. Where is she?” He’s certainly getting too old; Orochimaru couldn’t quite recall what he asked Anko to do once they were back in Konoha.

“At the hospital.” Her voice is slow and impatient all at the same time, like she’s talking to someone who doesn’t quite understand the language. He nods, remembering eventually. Of course he asked that, he’d told her to get the girl checked over for anything before she was let loose in a new country.

“Get them to give you some pills for that senility, sensei!” She shouts as he heads over to the hospital.

***

The hospital is always abuzz with movement and work - unsurprising considering that a significant portion of the town makes their money from fighting and killing. A family to the left, looking worried and boring holes into the ICU doors with their eyes, a swathe of doctors to the right, handing files to nurses and residents and discussing things with so many abbreviations that, for once, Orochimaru doesn’t bother to eavesdrop on the conversation.

(He blames Jiraiya for that habit. The man had dragged him on so many espionage missions that Orochimaru now naturally listens in on people.)

“Ah, Orochimaru-san!” A receptionist gets his attention, handing him a stack of files. He’s one of the few non-medics in the village who actually gets more information than he should, mostly because he scares enough of the staff that any requests for information are automatically granted. “Anko-san wanted you to read the orphan’s results.” Blood tests, chakra scans and a general check up. Just enough for them to determine who she is, and whether she carries any threat to Konoha - disease or otherwise.

“Interesting kid you got there, Orochi.” Halfway through a page about Karin’s physical health and Jiraiya cuts through with that infernal nickname purely to get Orochimaru’s attention and he looks up at the Hokage with a quirked eyebrow. “You knew she was a Uzumaki?”

“What?” The shock that passes over Orochimaru’s face quickly disappears and hardens, but Jiraiya knows that he’ll be in for hell for “spoiling” Orochimaru’s reports like they’re a soap opera.

“The staff swarmed me when I got here. Seems they’re not too fond of having one of the few surviving members of a legendary bloodline dropped into their laps,” Jiraiya explains, collapsing into one of the chairs with a thud, before adding, “Or Anko’s temper.” Orochimaru snorts lightly and returns to his reading. Extraordinary healing properties - by _biting_? That’s a new one. Chakra levels: high. Not a surprise, he supposes, considering the knowledge of her bloodline. Doctor’s recommendation: a scribble even he can’t dechiper.

“What are you planning for her, anyway?” Jiraiya’s eyes narrow, curiosity barely hidden in his voice as he tries to read the jargon Orochimaru struggles through - Tsunade would understand it, and while Orochimaru knows more than most about medical ninjutsu, he lacks the knowledge of the language of medical ninja.

A shrug. “I hadn’t thought about that.” The surprise shows on Jiraiya’s face, eyebrows shooting up at Orochimaru’s response. Since when does Orochimaru do anything without thinking about the-- “Training her for the ANBU’s sensor squad would be advantageous. But I think I’ll leave her in Anko’s charge until she’s settled.” It wouldn’t do to disturb the girl any more than she already (presumably) is and Anko had been doing anything to get out of training some of the younger shinobi.

“Anko? Hm.” Jiraiya isn’t sure, Orochimaru can hear it. “I’d rather she was running discovery missions with the other jounin. Perhaps we can entrust her to a chuunin, instead.”

“Who, pray tell, did you have in mind?”

“Umino Iruka.” Teacher. Responsible. More than capable, but lacking in ambition.

“I suppose he’ll do for the time being.” Orochimaru snatches up a pen from the reception desk and writes down the name of the chuunin, handing the files back to a receptionist who can’t find the courage to meet his eyes.


	6. Investments & Returns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Don’t scare her too much, Orochi.”
> 
> Jiraiya and Orochimaru return from a drunken weekend, meetings are held. The first training session with Sakura goes unexpectedly.

The Hokage and his advisor return with their last teammate, and her assistant, in tow. That Tsunade _wanted_ to come back to Konoha left all three of them in shock (Shizune had choked on her drink and Jiraiya barely kept his from flying all over their table). After years of running away from the village, she’s finally decided that it’s time to come back and face the ghosts. There are worse days to do so, Jiraiya supposes, looking at the way the sun peeks through the forest leaves, pleasant and warm, dancing golden around them all. Tsunade’s hair looks warmer when she walks in front of them, hands curled into fists.

He recognises her gait. It’s grit and determination that push her forward to Konoha, like she’s heading into an ambush with full knowledge and no other options.

Like she’s walking to her death.

Jiraiya looks over at Orochimaru. His mood more grim than usual since they set off from Mist Country, all hard lines and narrowed eyes. The hangover couldn’t help, but Jiraiya could feel it rolling off both of them, feel it in the air against his skin. Despite the warmth of the day, it strikes into the deepest part of his soul and brings a chill to his bones.

It’s a silly premonition that’s been niggling at the back of his head, but still, Jiraiya finds himself thinking that something’s coming.

***

The council spends the first two days after they return fretting over the disappearance of Kumogakure’s eight-tail jinchuuriki and Jiraiya’s impending visit to Takigakure. Jiraiya, meanwhile, slips sneaky smirks at Orochimaru for the entire duration when he realises that they got away scot free with their bunshin. The planning drags on and Orochimaru turns his mind to his evening, mentally going over his plans for Sakura. While he’s overheard a relatively good portion of her abilities courtesy of Kakashi and Jiraiya’s chats, it would be prudent for him to test those abilities before indulging her little wishes to be strong.

Someone directs a question to him and immediately stutters to a halt when he directs a cold glare at them. What sort of question is “will you be going to the first diplomatic meeting between a new leader and Konoha” anyway? Surely no one could actually be stupid enough to think he wouldn’t be there. The meeting is declared over and Jiraiya is the first one to try and disappear, soon followed by Orochimaru himself.

He stretches his limbs, the pop of bones echoing through his skin in the most unpleasant way as he twists and works out the stiffness of hours in a seat arguing for the continuation of discovering their attackers. The shinobi who’d attacked five months ago had clearly been hired, but the progress to finding the true source has frustrated both Jiraiya (because he hates the thought that Sandaime was killed by some unknown coward) and Orochimaru (because he hates the thought that someone managed to slip past his awareness) with its continual one step forward and two steps back. Whoever their Jounin had managed to capture had either been clueless or prepared for death before revealing anything.

Oh, how he wished Jiraiya would allow him to leave the village for a while, convinced that this whole mess would have been unravelled a lot quicker if he’d been allowed to unleash the full force of his abilities and intelligence on this mysterious force.

Instead, he’s stuck creating his entertainment with Genin. The utter boredom of the village had driven him to the state where he’s actually feeling somewhat _excited_ about the prospect of driving Haruno Sakura from zero to...

Well, to Anko, at the least. Who knows how far her wind will go?

“Don’t scare her too much, Orochi,” comes Jiraiya’s voice, teasing and playful as he shoos Orochimaru out of the office, one eye looking through a list of shinobi currently on assignment.

“Now why would I do that?”

One hand seal, and he’s off in a puff of smoke.

***

Orochimaru’s eyes widen when he gets to Training Ground 4.

Uchiha Sasuke. Well, this team does like to surprise him, don’t they?

“We had a deal, Sakura-chan." He likes the way they both attempt not to flinch - Sasuke’s better at hiding it than Sakura, but they’re both holding themselves strong. Good. He lets them stew under his emotionless gaze, detached and evaluating all at the same time, for a few more seconds before letting out a breath and asking, “...And why should I train both of you? I am a busy man, after all,” he hisses, examining his nails idly. He hadn’t expected this little gift, and despite how he wants to sink his teeth into the Uchiha boy, Orochimaru isn’t about to let two Genin (who failed at passing their Chuunin exams, at that) get the upper hand here.

If the answer isn’t satisfactory, he’ll turf the boy and Sakura out until they learn who is the master here.

“I’m the strongest of my graduating class,” Sasuke barks, eyes narrowed, Sharingan almost alight and Orochimaru looks up from his hands. A fortune teller Shizune had dragged them all to had said he was destined for good luck with the way his fate line crossed his life line (or something similar - he’d quickly tuned out the woman’s inane ramblings when she said he would be the first of their group to die).

“Is that so?” He’s over to Sasuke in a flash, all darkness and intimidation. There’s no obvious sign of weakness - no shivering or downcast eyes - but Orochimaru can feel the nerves sparking under his skin, see the way the hairs on Sasuke’s arms stand on end as Orochimaru wraps himself around the boy. Snake-like and rubbery, invading his personal space just enough to see how he’ll react. “Naruto has more chakra than you.” Of course, Naruto has a chakra demon inside of him. Sasuke doesn’t know that. “The Nara boy shows more intelligence and strategy than you. That _is_ why we promoted him, after all.” He quite likes the Nara’s boy, if he’d demonstrate even the slightest inclination to work, Orochimaru wouldn’t mind showing him just how far his mind and abilities could take him. “From what I hear, even Sakura-chan is a more accomplished user of her chakra than you.” To the left, Sakura flushes lightly and looks away.

Sasuke lashes out and Orochimaru smiles as he jumps back. Well, it’s a start.

“You will train me.” It’s a demand, a forceful one at that, growled out with crimson eyes alight at full power. Orochimaru jumps back onto one of the trunks planted in the field and looks down at him.

Oh, he wants to train this boy. More than he wanted to train Anko.

But he’s too impertinent.

“No. I don’t think so. That goes for you as well, Sakura-chan. I don’t tolerate presumption.”

He hears Sakura’s frustrated growl as he slinks out of their sights and sighs. It’s so very tempting, but first he wants to see whether they’ll have the spine to try again.


	7. Coffee Tables & Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Naruto, not impertinent? Jiraiya thinks they’re more likely to see the revival of Uchiha Madara than that."
> 
> Orochimaru and Jiraiya discuss team 7. Tsunade meets Karin.

“I’m surprised you said no. You’ve been wanting to unravel the Sharingan since you first fought an Uchiha,” Jiraiya comments lightly, pouring tea for both of them. They’re in his apartment for once, all light and high places. It couldn’t be much more different from Orochimaru’s place, with all the furnishings inherited from his parents smelling like oak and as firm as time, pictures strewn on every surface - his family’s yearly photos with Jiraiya pulling silly faces or scowling in formal clothes in almost all of them; his first photo with Team Sarutobi, where Tsunade jumped on Sarutobi-sensei’s shoulders and laughed, Orochimaru was caught mid-eye roll, and Jiraiya was pulling on both his cheeks with his tongue sticking out; the photos of all the teams he’s trained, the personalities of all of them shining in that one little moment.

“Surely you wouldn’t allow Naruto to get away with being so impertinent?”

Jiraiya laughs loudly and stares at Orochimaru like he’s grown a second head. (Or activated that creepy snake neck jutsu again.) Naruto, not impertinent? Jiraiya thinks they’re more likely to see the revival of Uchiha Madara than _that_.

(... He hopes he doesn’t regret that comparison. Naruto’s particular brand of insanity makes Jiraiya think even the impossible can happen.)

“... That was a bad example,” Orochimaru agrees quietly, stretching out his legs and sipping on tea thoughtfully. He would, eventually, allow them to study under him - if only because he wants to see just what the Sharingan is capable of - should they demonstrate enough that he decides they’re worth it, anyway. Jiraiya looks out at the training fields at the back of the Hokage’s quarters (he hates that he’s had to move out of his old apartment, but this place is pretty nice and the view warms his heart.

He’s a sentimental old fool. No wonder Sarutobi asked him to take over.)

“How long do you think Tsunade’ll stay?” Orochimaru asks, changing the subject, light curiosity dancing on his tongue with the question. Jiraiya finishes his tea and shrugs. She hasn’t committed to anything, after all.

“As long as she wants to. I did see her at the hospital with Shizune,” Jiraiya comments, licking his lips idly. “She’s pretty curious about that Uzumaki kid you had dragged here,” he adds with a pointed look at Orochimaru, who idly hums and avoids Jiraiya’s gaze with his eyes fixed on the scene outside. A few genin - he thinks it’s Team 8, but from this distance it’s hard to tell - flooding the training ground with attacks and practice in preparation for the next Chuunin Exams; their teamwork isn’t quite seamless, but for genin, he supposes they’re about as good as they’ll get without being another InoShikaCho combination.

“Well, she always did have too much curiosity for her own good,” he finally answers, feeling the sceptical look Jiraiya’s face had moulded into burn against his neck.

“That’s _you_ , Orochi.”

***

“Ah! Tsunade-sama.” Iruka nearly jumps in his hurry to let Tsunade enter his apartment. Karin, legs folded as she leans over the coffee table and studies a scroll, barely reacts to the presence. He sighs and clears his throat in the most teacherly manner possible and she looks up with slumped shoulders, using a pen to keep her place.

“What?” Judging by Iruka’s expression, this reaction occurs more often than not when he tries to get his attention and Tsunade sighs. Great. The Uzumaki Attitude (capitals necessary) comes in this hard-lined, angry flavour too - bit words and frustration at everything.

(But then, who could blame her?)

“Tsunade-sama is here to speak to you.” Iruka practically forces the growl back when he answers, because Tsunade doesn’t need to see the arguments that would normally follow. Karin’s face doesn’t change, but she turns towards the woman standing next to Iruka and crosses her legs, leans her arms on her thighs and rests her head in her cupped palms. Exhaling, she looks up at Tsunade with her eyes hardened and the corners of her lips twitching as if to say ‘Am I supposed to be impressed?’

Iruka sighs and barely restrains the urge to slap his hand to his face.

“She’s one of the Legendary Sannin!” Iruka’s face flushes deep red and his jaw tightens, brows knitted together as he shouts at Karin, an obvious message hidden under his words ( _show some respect!_ ) Tsunade wipes the urge to frown away from herself like a speck of dust and settles on a small smile.

“Iruka-kun, don’t you have some marking to be doing?” The pointed question, silk hiding steel, slips quietly from her lips and Karin strains to hear, leaning forward curiously, her eyes flicking from one face to another. The warm pulse of chakra Tsunade had emitted since coming here cools slightly and Iruka seems to slump in front of her and nod, wandering to the upstairs area of his apartment.

“Well!” A wicked smile of self-satisfaction crosses Tsunade’s face, disappearing as quickly as it came. She claps her hands together and sits down on the floor, crossing her legs and resting an elbow against the coffee table. One of her pigtails swings over her shoulder and she shrugs. “You’re the Uzumaki kid, huh?”

“I have a _name_ ,” Karin drawls, narrowing her eyes. “It’s Karin, before you ask. Wakahisa Karin,” she mutters, glancing back at the scroll she’d left alone. Tsunade follows her gaze, notes the topic (chakra coils) with mild interest and gets back on topic.

“Alright. Karin. How are you settling in?” The girl’s face neutralises a little, whatever irritation had been bubbling inside her seemingly dissipated with the use of her name.

“I guess it could be worse.” Her words try to be casual, but the waver of warmth that just barely peeked through and made her trip over “worse” just slightly brings a small smile to Tsunade’s face. Just about to ask a little about how she finds Iruka, whether she’d be interested in becoming a Konoha genin (after some snooping - well, drunken conversations with the illustrious Hokage and his advisor - unveiled that Karin had been a genin in her old village), Karin’s face clouds over and pulls back the questions for a moment until the girl says what’s on her mind. “I still don’t get why I’m here.”

“No one told you?”

“Everyone keeps saying to wait for this Orochimaru bastard,” Tsunade glares and Karin looks flustered, correcting herself with a frown, “this Orochimaru guy, but he won’t turn up! Jeez, is he that important that he forgets me?!”

Sigh. “No, he’s just an idiot.” A look crosses Karin’s face that Tsunade can only describe as the expression equivalent of a question mark and she slumps a little with a grin on her face all the same. “He’s the Hokage’s Senior Advisor. Brilliant, but always takes on more than he should.” Karin’s questioning look shifts to a more curious one, sensing a story there, waiting for Tsunade to stop talking. “He’s pretty convinced you’d be a good medic, though.”

“... You’re lying.” Tsunade blinks. To sense something of that level - a lie by one of the most accomplished shinobi in Konoha (if she does say so herself); ergo, a brilliant liar - is a skill that doesn’t come along every day. Or even every decade. She barely restrains the shock, but Karin’s eyes glint. “Chakra gets funky when you lie, you know.” A haughty tone enters Karin’s voice and Tsunade would hit the girl on the head if that deduction hadn’t been so damn impressive.

“Yeah. He thinks you’d be a good sensor for the ANBU.”

Karin frowns and tilts her head, “And you think I’d be a good medic?”

“Maybe.” The bait’s there, she just has to take it. This is a bet Tsunade would win.

“I’m not interested.”

Brat.


	8. Shuriken & Genjutsu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Very well. Training Ground 44, next Thursday... 8 in the morning, don’t be late.”
> 
> Orochimaru gets a surprise (or two). Sasuke and Sakura train. Jiraiya tries to piece together information to make sense.

Unlike many shinobi, Orochimaru keeps his apartment relatively security free. Only one small jutsu, taught to him years ago by Tsunade (and later developed into a few different incarnations by him), shrouded his place for his own information more than anything else. If someone breaks through the invisible chakra net he uses to surround his apartment, he immediately feels the jolt and decides what to do.

What to do usually translates to “electrocute whoever was stupid enough to try and break in”, but when familiar chakra grazes the net, Orochimaru hesitates, leaning against a wall and slowly increases his concentration on the remote net.

What is Uchiha Sasuke doing in his apartment...? Sorely tempted to increase the chakra in the net until he could feel every twitch of the boy’s body, the muscles in Orochimaru’s face pull tighter, mouth curling into a curious smirk.

He releases, and lets Sasuke’s presence shrink to the back of his mind, a tiny shadow behind his eyes.

He takes a shortcut home.

***

“So, what do we know?” Tsunade folds her arms and rests them on the Hokage’s desk, her mouth set in a hard line as Jiraiya sighs resignedly - dragged into cutting Orochimaru’s visit to his apartment short when a jonin turned up from a mission battered and bruised but desperate to turn in his report - and looks up a file from the drawers behind him.

(And now there’s Tsunade. He’ll probably end up battered and bruised.)

“I shouldn’t be telling you, you know,” he drones, reading the overall notes compiled since his reign began. Tsunade leans forward, her face suddenly as hard as her mouth and Jiraiya tugs the file to his chest, keeping it hidden. “If the old bats find out, I’m dead.” Her glare doesn’t subside, but Jiraiya starts explaining what the jonin have told him, what he noted in the file. The attack happened a month and a half after the chuunin exams finished, when Sarutobi-sensei was making one of his regular explorations of the areas surrounding Konoha (visiting the small farms on the outskirts, checking in with civilians who lived in the Land of Fire but outside of the main hub of Konoha - a habit Jiraiya had yet to pick up). The group had been army-strong, but devoid of any hitae-ates - making tracking them a whole lot harder. To add insult to that injury, the jonin sweeps of the other lands discovered that the army compromised of ninja from all the villages, carefully picked and chosen.

“None of them spilled anything?” Tsunade’s eyes widen in shock and she bites her lower lip as she leans back, tugging her folded arms into her torso. She always adopted this pose when thinking, pulled in tightly with only her face giving away her thoughts. It bothers her, he sees it in the way her mouth twists into a tight pout and her brows twitch when he shakes his head.

“Not a thing. They chose death instead.” His face begins to mirror hers, a deep frown revealing lines that belied his age.

“Some mercenaries.”

Jiraiya grunts in agreement, mind working through the facts again. There must be something he’s missing.

***

Being pinned to a wall with shuriken doesn’t make for a fun day in the opinion of most shinobi. Therefore, it stumped Sasuke when Orochimaru’s only reaction to the trap was an amused smirk. His eyes refuse to leave the advisor, trying to understand. Did he know what would happen? Why would he ever allow himself to be caught by the trap if so?

The smirk disappears from Sasuke’s face the more he thinks and Orochimaru laughs quietly, smug amusement glittering in his eyes as Sasuke pulls back, not quite ready to lower the kunai with which he threatened Orochimaru’s liver.

“Interesting.” The word slides out of his lips like a song, lilting with each syllable, hissing over the s to draw out the word even more. Sasuke blinks and Orochimaru disappears from his confines, leaving only his robes - battered by the shuriken - against the wall. He whips around, and Orochimaru watches lazily from the spine of his couch, one foot propped up on the armrest, his forearm pressing against his thigh and a small, custom-made kunai dangling from his finger. “Did you have something to ask me? I assume it must be incredibly pressing if you decided to invade my home.” He carefully uses his tone, the (slightly) impressed amusement offset by the blade of something darker and more dangerous. A little veiled threat to remind Sasuke of just how easily he could have been killed if Orochimaru had decided to do so.

“Train me.” The amusement in Orochimaru’s smirk doesn’t disappear - honestly, does the boy ever say anything else? He watches Sasuke as his face contorts darkly the longer Orochimaru remains silent and amused. The boy twitches as the silence drags on, and eventually he snaps. The shuriken misses thanks to a lazy dodge from Orochimaru and embeds in the wall several feet behind him.

“Very well. Training Ground 44, next Thursday... 8 in the morning, don’t be late.”

“Hmph.”

***

Sakura pouts. Not only did her plan to become a useful member of Team 7 backfire, now Sasuke mentions that he’ll be training with Orochimaru next week. She flips herself over to avoid his kick and tries to aim a shuriken mid-flight. It goes... poorly to say the least, but she manages to perch on a tree branch and conceal herself with a quick genjutsu while Sasuke smirks and swirls red.

... Darn. She springs free and grabs a branch, using it to propel herself to the monument, narrowly avoiding the fireball he sends her way. Her chakra barely manages to make it to her feet in time to keep her balance on the tip of the monument, but somehow she only wobbles and doesn’t trip. At least something she does works.

With the distance between the monument and the ground, she gets a few seconds to plan something and thanks Kakashi-sensei for teaching her the Doton that had stumped all of them when they took to the bell test. She plants explosive tags under the spot she’d later lead him to, holding her breath and covering her chakra as best she could. Could the Sharingan see her underground? Ugh, she just has to get this all done and slip out before he does anything.

She resurfaces near the stream, a few feet from her trap, and notes with some pleasure that Sasuke would have to dash right over her trap to get to her quickly. He notices her almost immediately, leaning lazily against the tree he’d singed just a moment ago.

“Finally,” he drawls, jumping into action, clearing her trap with a swift leap and Sakura grits her teeth, swallowing the disappointment. All she had to do was distract him for long enough that he doesn’t realise he’s being dragged to that spot. He kicks out at her and she blocks with her forearm, pushed back by the force and wincing. Ouch. She should have tried to bolster that defence with some chakra. Spinning behind him, Sakura aims a kunai for the base of his neck and Sasuke flicks it out of the way with his own just in time, the thunk of wood and metal the only way either of them realised that Sakura’s kunai hit a tree. Sakura jumps back, blasts a small gust of wind behind Sasuke to propel him forward into her waiting hands which fling him - with some difficulty, lacking the raw strength to move his body with ease - behind her. Hopefully skidding into her trap.

She really hopes so. She’s nearly out of chakra.

A cloud of dirt kicks up, but no explosion sounds and Sasuke skids to a halt just before her trap and Sakura exhales irritably. Her muscles ache and she’s relatively sure she pulled something throwing Sasuke like that. She will not fall. She will not crumple, even though that’s all she wants to do.

It’s the closest to a victory she’s ever come against Sasuke.

“... Not bad.” He expels a breath and looks up at her and Sakura smiles, too tired to indulge the fangirling going on in her head. She dispels the tags, leaving harmless chakra paper under the ground and finally allows her legs to give way.

“So, how’d you do it?” Her breathing returns to normal as she shuffles a little closer to Sasuke and feels her chakra slowly begin to even out. An hour or so and she should have some stamina again.

Sasuke rolls his eyes at her question. _Idiot._

***

“NARUTO!”

A crack and thump echo down the streets closest to the training grounds and Orochimaru turns his head just in time to watch the trees tear out of the ground, soon followed by the summoning of one of Jiraiya’s toads. (He never could remember their names.) An improvement over the use of the Hokage’s office, but barely. Flashy, destructive jutsu - Jiraiya’s specialty, and the only type of jutsu that Naruto seemed to understand. Not that Orochimaru disliked flashy jutsu (despite Manda’s... _disposition_ , it brings him great delight to watch the expression of his opponent when he summons the giant snake, and the triple gates were just practical), but he doesn’t see why it’s necessary to practice them so close to buildings.

... If nothing else, it annoys him to death.

He turns his attention away from the fight and finds himself surrounded by impossibilities. A world with inverted colour and no buildings to behold - years of time in the library providing him with the correct answer for this scenery: Konoha before Konoha existed, as painted by an artist of the time. Nothing but trees and fields and autumn.

The genjutsu is lovely but flashy and obvious and he dispels it easily. But apparently the momentary distraction provides enough time for her to send a string of kunai flying at him and Orochimaru just manages to flicker out of her grasp and reappear on a rooftop, just behind his attacker.

“I see you spoke with Sasuke-kun,” he hisses into her ear. Team 7, how unusual a cell they’re turning out to be. Unlike the other teams from their graduating class, each member seems to be determined to be trained by a legend and nothing else.

They want to be great, he can see that in the way her shoulders remain taut and she doesn’t flinch even when his breath tickles her ear. It could work miraculously for them, or it could be a disaster.

“Yes,” she answers, voice tight, still refusing to turn around and he leans back and inspects her with mild curiosity. Why did _she_ want to be so great? There’s no reason for her to have this drive - she has no need to prove herself as a shinobi (she could live a much easier life as a civilian, like her parents); no need to refute people or revenge to undertake.

Well, he supposes he’ll figure that out eventually.

“You used the genjutsu to distract me long enough in the hope that one of the kunai would hit me.” He slowly works through her strategy, fingers running through his hair idly, watching for any signs of reaction from her.

Nothing.

“Yes.”

“However, you never came with the intent to kill, unlike Sasuke-kun,” he hisses out the name deliberately, to see if he can goad some sort of reaction out of her and is rewarded with the slight tremble of her upper arms. “Otherwise you would have used a more subtle genjutsu. Something that takes longer to discover.” She nods, and Orochimaru’s lip curls in disappointment. Mercy. Honestly.

A pulse of chakra circles his ankles and suddenly he’s stuck.

“Sometimes killing isn’t the purpose of a mission, right, Orochimaru-san?” He knows Jiraiya’s told these brats to call him that, to deprive him of his rightful title as one of the highest ranking people in this village. Probably to annoy him. It often does.

Right now, he finds he doesn’t mind so much.

“Hmph. Training Ground 44, Thursday at 8.” She frees him and Orochimaru slips off the roof with a simple hand seal, landing on the street and heading to Umino Iruka’s apartment with his mind buzzing.

How interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally going to start getting into plot in the next couple of chapters as well as the sannin training people! And maybe more info about how the Chuunin Exams went in this 'verse. If I figure it all out (thank goodness that arc's on TV here right now!)


	9. Discussions & Threats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Team 7 failed at the Forest of Death, did they not? Why do you think that is?”
> 
> Iruka deals with a snake. Danzo remains in the bowels of Konoha.

Iruka is oh-so-gratefully allowed to sit in on this sannin-meeting-Karin appointment this time. He’s guided to his own kitchen table by the smooth movements of Orochimaru; no pauses to wait for Karin to notice what’s going on or decide whether she’d want to talk to him, one hand hovering almost too close to Iruka’s lower back, making his chakra prickle uncomfortably.

Karin finally appears at the kitchen table when Iruka is gritting his teeth and boiling water for tea. Orochimaru’s hands fold together and rest on the table and his eyes invite her to the seat opposite him. Iruka leans against the counter, eyes following Karin, trying to discern her expression. She stares at Orochimaru the same way Iruka stared at him when he first encountered the man as a child.

What the hell do you think about a snake that smiles so cordially at you?

(Probably that it’s about to kill you.)

He times the whole meeting. One hour of Orochimaru talking to Karin, three pots of tea (Karin finishes hers, Orochimaru doesn’t get through the first cup, and Iruka ends up putting the wrong tea in his and grimaces when the sweet taste blooms over his tongue), and approximately ten minutes before Orochimaru manages to knock down the attitude Karin’s held since she got here and turn her into a gushing fangirl.

(How does he do that? Iruka finds himself, at points, relying on good old fashioned adult cynicism to stop the words and promises Orochimaru hisses across the table at the child from affecting him too. He doesn’t doubt Orochimaru’s ability to deliver on the promises of power, but whether that’s the best path for young Karin to take... well, he isn’t sure.

His frown deepens.)

Their conversation dies out amicably, with Orochimaru telling Karin she’s welcome to take up a position as genin in Konoha if she wants it (with a definite steel to his voice that insinuates that she should want to, if she doesn’t want to disappoint him) before turning to Iruka.

“Ah, Iruka-kun, might I speak with you privately? It’s about Team 7.” The tone he levels at Iruka is so honey-sweet and deliberate that Iruka finds himself doing all he can to prevent a flare of killing intent directed squarely at the snake in front of him.

He never liked snakes. It shouldn’t be surprising that Orochimaru, with his animal affinity worn like a flashing sign, doesn’t inspire Iruka’s trust.

“Alright. Karin, you can go back to reading.”

She nods and slips out of the table, but not before shooting a curious glance at the two men. She can feel the way Iruka’s chakra wavers when he stares at Orochimaru-sama, even if he thinks he’s hiding it.

“What is it, Orochimaru-sama?” he asks as soon as he hears the tell-tale signs of Karin entering her bedroom, arms folded in front of himself and fingers tense. The faint sensation of being hunted hums just under his skin and Iruka can’t project complete relaxation when those eyes are almost boring into his skull.

“Team 7 failed at the Forest of Death, did they not?” Iruka doesn’t need to be told that it’s a statement phrased as a question, but he nods anyway. “Why do you think that is?”

***

“Orochimaru-sama.”

“Am I late?”

“Not at all. Please, follow me.” The masked attendant pushes open a set of doors after a drawn out neutralisation of genjutsu and seals and, all too used to the tedium of the basements of Konoha, Orochimaru lazily glances over his shoulder and throws up another genjutsu so the - obviously new - attendant stops allowing pressure to get to them. They finally get through the series without fumbling and Orochimaru tilts his head to watch. It’s different to the seal they used last time he was here, and completely unfamiliar to him.

He notes the series of hand seals and the calligraphy the agent uses and files it away for later explorations.

The very bowels of ROOT remain dank as ever, and he pushes his hair back into a loose knot at the base of his neck while his guide inclines their head and slips off to alert Danzo.

He leans against cold stone and folds his arms, pushing back the urge to groan. This place is always too cold and the prospect of meeting Danzo gnaws at him like a particularly persistent and untrained puppy. The intention of never returning to this place remained one of the (more minor) reasons for leaving ROOT in the first place.

So, naturally, he’d end up back here.

(Of course. Of course.)

The ROOT agent, masked and silent, nods as they reappear and steps aside of the doors leading to Danzo’s office. With all the elegance he can muster, Orochimaru sweeps into the office like royalty and ignores the immaturity of the voice in his mind that gloats about how he has the Hokage’s ear in a way Danzo never will.

(A louder voice reminds him that it’s a topic that will, without fail, come up.)

“Orochimaru.”

“Danzo.”

“It took you long enough to respond to my call.”

“As you know, I’ve been busy. Jiraiya does rely on my advice, after all.”

“... Of course.”

A silence stretches out, led by Danzo, and it takes all of Orochimaru’s long-practised self-restraint to avoid snapping impatiently and asking what Danzo wants to attempt this time.

His eyes harden, unable to hide the growing irritation and just as he’s about to give Danzo this small victory -- “I called you here because you reneged on your promise.”

Ah.

“I did attempt to explain that you would work well, however the words of two Hokages - one of which was their former teammate - seemed to override my concerns about Jiraiya’s ascension.” He neglects to mention that his attempts to convince Homura and Kotaru consisted of merely mentioning Danzo’s name and then shrugging when they pointed out Minato and Hiruzen's wishes. After all, the placement of Jiraiya as Hokage happened to align with his interests very nicely - to an extent that even Danzo’s promises wouldn’t replicate.

(Because he and Danzo trusted each other like one trusts the sea in Kirigakure.

Not at all.)

“We also had a deal--”

“Which I upheld. I attempted to steer them towards you, however... it was unsuccessful.”

“--if you would allow me to finish. Although you did _attempt_ to uphold the deal, it clearly wasn’t enough--”

“And now you want to... make some half-hearted threat against my part of the deal, correct?” Orochimaru laughs quietly. “I would hardly bat an eyelid if you did, but medical shinobi like him are hard to come by. Konoha would be unable to ignore his... removal.”

“You still un--”

“ _Furthermore_ , I was under the impression that your Yamanaka bastard stole one of his clan’s kinjutsu to deal with inconveniences such as the information in his mind. Surely you wouldn’t waste your subordinate’s toil?” His voice remains deceptively sweet, lilting up on the question with a soft hiss and inaudible click of teeth. Danzo doesn’t react, staring dully at his former subordinate with his good eye and folding one arm over the other. “I believe we’re done here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danzo was an unexpectedly hard character to get writing. I'm not all that happy with his scene as a result, sigh. But this fic has been waiting too long so I give! Have this rather short chapter.


	10. author's note/query

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> not exactly an update...

A/N!

I am rewriting this fic at the moment, and I wanted to get opinions before I do anything more. Would you prefer:  
a) I edit the chapters and upload this here  
b) I post the rewrite under a different title  
c) Something else.

It'll probably be quite a bit different - longer chapters, extra scenes, some plot changes - so it'd be good to know what people want. I'm leaning towards B personally, but if you have another idea, I'd love to hear it!


	11. Author's Note

Snakes In A Village officially has a rewrite up! Check out Snakebite & Black by clicking for the next work in this series.


End file.
